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<title>GrADS Command: q dialog</title>
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<h2><b>q dialog</b></h2>
<p>
<code>q dialog <i>&lt;x y w h&gt; dialog_text</i></code>
<p>
Launches a dialog box widget that prompts for text or numeric data entry and also
provides editing of an input text or value. Returns the text entered by the user.
<p>
<ul>
<code><i>x</i>&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</code>X-coordinate of diaglog box center <br>
<code><i>y</i>&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</code>Y-coordinate of diaglog box center <br>
<code><i>w</i>&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</code>width of diaglog box <br>
<code><i>h</i>&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp</code>width of diaglog box <br>
</ul>
<p>
There are two options for the formatting of <code><i>dialog_text</i></code>:
<p>
<ul>
<code><i>prompt</i></code>
<ul>
The prompt string provides an instruction to the user (e.g.,
"<code>Enter value for PI:</code>"). If
<code><i>dialog_text</i></code> contains only a prompt, then the
dialog box appears with the prompt and an empty entry point.
</ul>
<code><i>prompt</i> | <i>initial_string</i></code> <br>
<code><i>prompt</i> / <i>initial_string</i></code>
<ul>
It is possible to give the user a head start or a suggestion as to
what to type in the dialog box. For this option, 
<code><i>dialog_text</i></code> contains a prompt and an initial
string separated by a vertical bar or a backslash (e.g., "<code>Enter
value for PI: | 3.14159</code>" or "<code>Enter value for PI: /
3.14159</code>"). The dialog box appears with the prompt and the
editable initial string at the entry point.
</ul>
</ul>

<p>
<h3>Usage Notes</h3>
<ol>
<li>The string input by the user is returned when the Enter/Return key is pressed. 
Null text entries are accepted.  
<p>
<li>The x,y,w, and h arguments are optional. GrADS will use the default
settings if they are omitted entirely or set to -1. If w and h are set
to 0, a minimum sized window is drawn to contain just the 
<code><i>dialog_text</i></code>.
<p>
<li>The cursor must be inside the dialog box to allow text entry or editing
to occur. 
<p>
<li>All text is centered in the dialog box. If
the new text exceeds the window size, the text will be right
justified in the window; the left and right arrow keys can be used to
scroll the text back and forth. 
<p>
<li>See the <a href="gradcomdsetdialog.html"><code>set
dialog</code></a> refrence page for details on controlling the
color properties of the dialog box widget.
</ol>

<p>
<h3>Examples </h3>
<p>
<pre>
set dialog 1 0 5 1 6
q dialog Hello World
say result
</pre>

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